Moodboard For Contents Pages Of Magazines

Here I have created a mood board which follows the theme of content pages from different magazines. It has also helped me develop my knowledge and understanding of what the basic key features are, that should always be included on a content page meaning now I know how to make my content page look as professional as possible but also interest the reader into reading it as it will explain the key points about what is going on, on each individual page.

As we can see from my mood board all the content pages are very different and unique from one another which straight away stands out how each magazine has its very own theme going on, the content pages also relate to the main theme of the magazine. For example the top right picture, Kerrang is a rock magazine and we can clearly tell this as the content page links in with the theme of rock. All the content pages also have thumb nail pictures that link in with the style of magazine they have done. I think this is very effective as it doesn’t make the content page look boring; it makes it stand out and look exciting. The content pages also follow different colour schemes for example the rock magazines are mainly dark colours, whereas the Pop magazines are bright, fun and friendly colours. I like how this has been done as it really captures the theme of the magazine and doesn’t make it look strange.

My favourite content page on this mood board has to be the one with the lady lying down and she has her legs hanging in the air. I really like this one as it really stands out from all the others; it also looks the most professional looking one as it is very unique and individual. I like what the magazine has done with the font ‘CONTENT’ as it isn’t like most of the other magazines and in a straight line, the letters are all on different levels. The colours used on the background are really professional as they all complement each other and do not clash. The background colours also make the main image stand out. But also a long shot has been used as you can see the models whole body, I think this makes the content page look really effective and professional.

I don’t like the MOJO content page as it looks really boring and dull in comparison to the other content pages. However the content page overall is clear and easy to read which is professional but I do not think the content page is eye-catching as it looks boring. The content page has also used a variety of different colours, some bright whereas some are dark. It does look readable however I don’t think they go very well together and I think the target audience for this magazine is older people or people interested in the theme of the magazine.

Overall from doing this mood board it has given me ideas about what I want my final content page to look like, I have now also started thinking about colours and what sort of shot I am going to use on my model. But I now feel confident about what the key features are of a content page and how to make it grab people’s attention, I will also place my content page on the left hand side of the magazine as if the reader was to be having a quick flick through then the left hand side of the magazine is usually the most important side. However overall I am really pleased with the information I have gained when creating this mood board. 

Rock N Roll Magazine Mock Up

This is my final magazine mock-up for my music magazine that has the genre ‘ROCK N ROLL’ From doing a lot of research I have now come up with my final mock-up, as we can see I have included a lot of features on my front cover that I believe will stand out from the other Rock magazines and catch peoples attentions. I also want my final magazine to look as professional as possible and I believe with this mock-up it will be professional.

The first thing on my mock-up is my Masthead and logo, I have placed this at the top of the magazine as this is usually where the title of the magazine goes and I want people to know what my magazine is called instead of getting confused with everything else going on, on the mock-up. I will use a bold font for my masthead and a dark colour as this will make it obvious and clear. I will also use a font that resembles the theme of Rock but it will also be clear and keep to a formal, professional look. I have decided to place a logo next to my masthead which will hopefully make it easier for people to recognise my magazine as this logo would always be next to the masthead.

I then decided to place a header underneath the masthead, on this it will include the date. This will show that my magazine is a monthly magazine as from my questionnaire monthly was the most popular answer. The header is one of the key features the front cover of my magazine; I will use a smaller font for the header as this is not as important as the masthead. However the font will still be clear and simple and I will use a colour that will not clash with the central image.

I have also decided to place cover lines along the left hand side of the magazine. These will be short and snappy but then very informative at the same time as it will basically be a sneak peak of a story that is inside the magazine. The cover lines have to be good as these could be the difference between making sales and then not making sales. A good clear font has to be used as well which people can read from a distance, but it also has to be readable over the central image.

I have decided to have one main sell line that will be spread across the central image, this main sell line will have to be clear but very informative at the same time. I will use a clear, bold font but I will make sure it doesn’t clash with the central image. Underneath the sell line I have placed another cover line which could link in with the sell line above it.

I will also place a thumb nail picture on the bottom right of the magazine to make the magazine look exciting and to draw people into buying the magazine. This thumb nail picture will be something really exciting that will then have a story inside the actual magazine about it.

I have then placed a barcode and price on the bottom right of the magazine. This is one of the key features that should be on a magazine, as if it wasn’t here then it would look messy and unorganised which could give off an impression to the readers that the quality of the magazine isn’t very good inside. However because I have placed a barcode and the price here it looks neat and professional and that is what I want my magazine to be known as.

Format Analysis Of A Music Magazine

Rock N Roll Moodboard

From doing my previous moodboard, I have been inspired to do a ‘ROCK’ music magazine, so i have now created a rock moodboard. The main thing that stands out to me is the colour on the front  cover of all the magazines. For example if we looked at the ‘guitar’ magazines we can see that the colours are very dark which usually represents, Goths and emos who sing rock. They have also used white for the masthead, I like this as it doesn’t clash with the other writing and it works really well with the other font on the page. However they have also used a light pink which I like as this will attract readers as it would probably be a cover line or sell line to make them read the magazine.

Some of them have also used headers which I like as this usually gives the basic information of how much the magazine is and the date of the magazine that it was released. I will be putting a header on my final front cover as I feel it looks professional.  I like how on the magazine they have placed their header at the very top of the page. This is very unique as the header is usually placed underneath the masthead.

Another thing I like is how there is a variety of different central images on the page. For example the rock sound got 3 models on the front cover all of which are looking in completely different directions and are all standing at different angles. The man on the left is a medium shot, where as the man in the middle is very close up to the camera and has a serious expression on his face. However the man on the far right is looking in the complete opposite direction. I don’t like this central image as it looks messy and all over the place, i feel that they should all be looking in the same direction and looking directly into the camera as this will then show to the readers that they are looking directly at them and they actually look interested. I also don’t like the bottom left image as this the central image is too big and it is covering the masthead meaning that the reader will have no idea what magazine it is called as you cannot read it at all. This also makes it look messy and unprofessional.

All the mastheads are very clear as well and they are all using a gothic font which i like as this links in with the actual theme of the magazine. This has also inspired me about how i want my final front cover to look like and what sort of font i want my font to look like. I also know that my masthead will be clear and bold in the top centre of the magazine so it is easy to read and it will also catch people’s attention when looking at the magazines as it will look professional meaning hopefully it will catch people’s attention.

For my final front cover I want to use a lot of cover lines and sell lines as i believe this stands out in front of the reader as it will make it look like they have a lot of information and stories inside. However I do not want to make it look like it is over the top and messy as this will look unprofessional and ugly. I will use a clear, simple, rock font that will follow the theme of the magazine. Then I will also have bold sell lines to draw people into buying my magazine.

Moodboard Of Magazine Genres

From looking at different music genres of magazines I have created a moodboard which now allows me to see the real difference in the front covers and also develop my knowledge and understanding on how to put together a music magazine.

The first thing that stands out to me is all the different styles of each magazine, for example the ‘rock’ magazines the colours used are very dark eg black as these are the colours that are usually represented with goths, emos and rock music. If we look at the KERRANG magazine straight away the black draws us in and we can see that the man model is wearing eye liner and a lot of black around his face. The central image has the model looking directly into the reader’s eyes which shows that he is talking to the reader. Overall the magazine looks very professional and clear as people will immediately know what type of magazine it is.

Another thing that stand outs is the masthead, as we can see they are all very bold and clear and we immediately know what type of magazine they are talking about. They are all placed at the top of the magazine which makes it look professional and realistic. My favourite mastheads are the MOJO ones as they are clear and readable and the colour of the font goes really well with the other font on the page. However even though the magazines look professional I don’t like how the editor has covered the celebrities face over the masthead as you cannot read what the actual magazine is called meaning this may confuse people. So from doing this moodboard I have learnt that I do not want my central image to be covering the masthead as it is not clear enough meaning if you were a new reader you would not know what the magazine is called.

Also I can see that every central image has a celebrity on the front of them, this immediately shows that the magazine is a music magazine. They have also used many medium shots which I like as you can clearly see the celebrity. Many of them are also looking directly into the camera which represents that they are looking directly into the readers eyes. I want to use a medium shot for my final front cover as they aren’t too close up and this will also allow me to place my cover lines and sell lines around the main central image.

All the magazines have used a lot of cover lines around the magazine; this stands out as it looks like the magazine is busy and has a lot going on inside it which may attract people to buy the magazine. For example the top of the pops magazine with Justin Bieber on has a lot of writing on which really stands out. This is how I want my magazine to look as it makes it looks really professional, I like how it has also included a lot of thumb nail pictures along the side, this is giving sneak peeks about what is inside the actual magazine which could draw more people into buy the magazine because they want to read the actual magazine.

Overall from doing my moodboard it has inspired me on how i want my final music magazine front cover to look. The magazine MOJO and KERRANG has inspired to choose the genre ROCK as I think this would be quite a good theme to work with in terms of pictures and making the magazine stand out. People will also immediately know what type of magazine it is as well.

Questionnaire For A Music Magazine

My Final Evaluation Of My School Magazine Front Cover

This is my overall final school magazine front cover. It is named the ‘eye of the Misbourne’ which i personally think is really catchy as the word ‘eye’ has connotations of someone’s actual eye meaning that it is the real life view of what it is like to be at ‘The Misbourne’ itself and it can give a new person a real experience and heads up of what the school is actually like on an everyday basis.  As someone’s eye is constantly on the lookout, and watching for the latest gossip and information to post in the magazine itself. I decided to use a bold font for the masthead as it will stand out from a distance but it is also clear as well meaning readers can reader it from a distance as the font will make it stand out. But the font is also quite serious which could reflect on the school for having a serious attitude towards learning as they want their students to do the best that they can to their ability. I also decided to place the masthead at the top of the magazine as it will then be clear to people what the magazine is actually called but also what type of magazine it is. For the actual font itself instead of writing ‘eye’ I decided to use an image of an eye that I edited using photo shop as it is different and unique from any other magazines and because of this it would get remembered more. For the font colours I decided to use white and black as we didn’t want it to blend in with the background, we wanted it to look clear and engage readers that are looking at the front cover. It is also eye-catching meaning it would stand out from other magazines if it was on a shelf.

For the background image I decided to go for a long shot as we wanted to capture the whole background in it especially the steps. So we placed the model at the top of the steps as we felt like this was like climbing the ladder of success. The model also has a big smile on her face and is looking directly into the camera which is also like looking directly into the readers eyes which is the direct mode of address. But because she is smiling this also is very friendly and welcoming for new people who wish to come to the school as the girl looks very happy. We decided not to use a 3 colour principle however because of all the background images I don’t feel like this was the right decision as it looks messy and unprofessional. The font colours clashes with the background image meaning that you can’t read the actual font. The colours are too bright on the background meaning it looks really messy and unprofessional. You can also see a bin in the background image which I personally think ruin the picture as bins are usually associated with dirt and rubbish.   

Many fonts were used on the front cover of the magazine. They are all bold and stand out on the page which is good because they will engage the readers. However all the font is very squished at the top of the magazine and then at the bottom it gets less and less which makes it look unfinished but then again not over the top. They have used black and white for the font colours however I don’t believe these were the right colours to use as the white clashes with the white/grey steps meaning that it is really hard to read what it is saying, this may put readers off the magazine as they may feel if they can’t read what the magazine on the front cover then they may think it is rubbish and unprofessional inside.

I wrote cover lines that I thought would be appealing for our target audience which is students and parents. Our first cover line is ‘3 ways to get A’s’ I think this is a really good line as it is really appealing to young students, especially those who want to work hard and try and get the best grade that they can possibly get. It also gives 3 bullet points as well which could draw the readers in and then make them want to buy the whole magazine so then they can read the whole article and get the correct information into getting 3A’s.  They also all apply for students and how to help them get through their school life which is what the point of the magazine is all about. However this cover line I thought would also appeal to parents as it will show them how to help their son or daughter in getting the best possible grades that they could get.

I have also used ‘sell lines’ which I believe will engage the reader and then make them want to buy the magazine. One of my main sell lines is ‘head girl’ I have then also placed it on a head girl badge which I believe really stands out on the front cover and makes it looks really professional. I believe this will be really engaging as everyone would usually be eager to find out, which means they would buy the magazine purely just to find out this information which then may then lead onto the student reading the rest of the magazine which will include some brilliant tips. 

Another one of our sell lines is ‘prizes to be one’ however I don’t think this sell line is very effective as it doesn’t specifically say what the prize is and I believe the only way this target audience would be interested if it is was to specifically say what the prizes were and what you have to do to actually win these prizes. Otherwise at the moment it just sounds boring and sounds like it has just been stuck on the page for no reason. Although it does look really eye-catching as it is on a bold font and has a background shape on top of the central image to make it stand out even more and interest people into buy the magazine. I dont think this sell line would interest the parents either as it sounds more like it has been directed to the students. 

For my header we also decided to include a link to the school website so if people were interested and wanted to find out more information then they could have a look. I have also included the basic information such as the price which I feel is an acceptable price and then also the month so people know that it is a monthly magazine. I have also included the barcode on the front cover to give it the finally professional look.

Over all this is a good magazine front cover however I think it needs a lot of improvements to make it look perfect and to also give it the professional finish. However it does include a lot of key features so which may tempt people to buy the magazine.